Dreams Long Forgotten
by Shiranai Seito
Summary: What if VICTIM won back in 4088? AU. Rated PG for possible violence. All chapters have now been edited!
1. The Beginning of the End

** This is going to be a 'What if' fic. I didn't really like the way it was going when I was trying to do a 'normal' fic. I guess this could also be considered an AU fic.. sorta. I took the general idea behind the plot from some science fiction books in my library. **

**Well anyway I also made some assumptions. So try to stick with me. **

_Italics are flashbacks or the character's thoughts _

**Disclaimer:** The characters and general ideas belong to Bunny-sensei. I own any OC's should they rear their ugly heads. Okay?

**Summary**: What if VICTIM won back in 4088? (A.N. Yeah, they would have destroyed humanity, but what kind of story is that? So OOCness on VICTIM's part).

The moon hung overhead like a silver coin worn smooth and shiny. The grass rippled in the light summer breeze. The tears of the willow, left behind from the recent storm, trickled down onto his face. Down the hill, in the woods, the silence of the scene was broken by a long, drawn-out cry of an animal; a cry so longing it sent chills chasing the length of his spine. 

A sudden gust of wind parted the foliage of the willow; showing for the first time a clear view of the surrounding area. A young girl was running up the steep incline, breathless, having just run from the village; her hair, normally black, glimmered a ghostly sliver in the moonlight. The boy, who just ran off the trail, didn't need any help from the moonlight to make his hair silver.

"REI!" the girl shouted, "We've been looking all over for you! Your mother is worried sick!" 

Rei felt a twinge of guilt for having made his mother upset, but it passed rather quickly. He stood up, brushing dirt and grass off his tattered tunic and leggings. Picking up his cloak, he preceded to walk down the hill to intercept Kizna and Hiead. 

Kizna, rage flashing through her pink eyes, stood waiting for him at the bottom of the hill. Her hands on her hips, her posture reeked of disapproval. Hiead had already turned around and was heading down the path at his usual nothing-disturbs-me pace. Judging from the look on Kizna's face, she was obviously glad that Hiead was leaving. When Hiead passed out of sight she bent over and yelled at Rei as loud as she could,

"REI! You lazy…Argggg!"

Her cry of frustration startled the forest birds into flight. A silence followed the bird's wake as her scream echoed back. Then, running her fingers through her shoulder length hair, she sighed. "Come on, Rei. I'll explain on the way back."

Rei found that he had nothing to say in defense. 

****

The next day Rei was walking back from where he and a few others were building an irrigation system for the village fields. They had worked all day, and to the surprise of the others, Rei had volunteered to stay late. He said it was to make up for the late start they had that day, but secretly he liked to work, almost as much as he liked to complain.

"Working all day absolutely ." Rei said to the silence, then, to his immense surprise, the silence spoke back.

"It could be worse," said the silence. The voice was unknown to Rei.

Rei turned around sharply, seeing not a soul around. 

"You could be dead." This time Rei located the person; he (for Rei was sure it was a man) was hidden under the shadow of an old dying tree. Only his outline and one intelligent green eye were visible from where Rei was. The eye had a penetrating quality, an age to it, that the voice echoed. 

"Is that a threat?" Rei found himself answering back. His hands clasped the shovel a bit tighter, his senses sharpening until he could hear the abnormally heavy breathing of the man.

Completely ignoring Rei's retort, the mysterious foreigner asked "Do you know your history?"

Rei was immediately distracted from his scrutiny of the stranger at this question._ What kind of question is that? The best tactic for this is to play the fool and see how this pans out. _

The man was waiting for his response. He seemed to be one of those people who projected an air of patience that they didn't feel inside. At Rei's constant blank façade, the visitor felt compelled to supply the answer

"No? Let me summarize, one-hundred-and-eighteen years ago we lost our home planet. In the ensuing chaos VICTIM conquered the human race, for the most part we rejoiced in this change of leadership; but there were resistors. There are reports that they exist even to this day…" 

He trailed off, looking at Rei, as if trying to judge his reaction, and then when he spoke again his voice was curiously flat. "I think you should be going back, the sun has almost set."

Rei checked. The sun had almost set over the forest; the night chill was just beginning to set in. Shivering slightly, Rei wished for his warm wool cloak. He looked back toward the man, but he was already gone. Indeed, not a trace was left; it was as if Rei had always been alone. _Quick for someone who sounded so out of shape… Rei shrugged off the trickle of fear that crawled over his back and headed towards the village at a swift pace. _

He ran so fast, he barely had time to register the trees flashing by in assorted shades of green, blue, and brown. He happened to recall the conversation he had with the head of the Village.

_ "If you are ever caught outside the village after sunset again they will tell VICTIM. You know what happen to people, to villages, who are reported, right?" _

_The man's face held a peculiar mix of fear and anger. He slammed his hands down on the desk, making all the objects on it bounce slightly. The desk was the sole piece of furniture in the room to speak of, and had been designed with grace in mind. The desk was from Before, easily identified as such by the workmanship. No carpenter these days can make wood that smooth or patterns that intricate. But Rei wasn't actually looking at the desk now, he knew all about it from the countless other times he had been in this room while Azuma was ranting and raving._

_"I just stayed out there to think! Is that such a crime?" Rei would had stood up in anger had he not already been standing; his clenched fists were quivering at his sides. He was situated on the other side of the desk, opposite Azuma._

_"Yes you DO need to think; think about what will happen to your mother and all your precious friends should VICTIM think we're resisters!" Azuma searched around the items on the top of his desk, seized a writing table, and brought it in a downward arc towards Rei…_

Coming out of his reverie, he saw he was approaching the village. _Just around those trees…_His heart leaped in fear when he saw the Great Gate closed. With his hands he pounded against the cold hard metal. 

Every village had such a gate, given to them by VICTIM; no one really knew how it worked, but it automatically closed at nightfall and most likely kept track of the number of comings and goings. The only way to open it after dusk was to impute a correct code on a pad on the inside; Azuma was the only person who knew the code. Rei also knew that opening the gate after it had closed for the night sent a signal, somehow, to VICTIM's headquarters. 

Rei lowered himself to the ground, he leaned his back against the chilled metal. Drawing his legs close to his chest, he rested his forehead atop his knees; the picture of defeat. _I'll wait here till morning if I have to._

He jumped slightly as the Gate doors pulled back into the surrounding wall. There was no whirling of mechanics, and no screeching of metal, just absolute silence. With no support behind him, he pitched backwards. Even from his position on the ground, Rei saw a piece of metal slid down to hide the keypad that must have been used to open the gate. He then saw Azuma step out of the darkness. Before Rei could utter a single excuse, Azuma launched himself forward and grabbed Rei by the collar. Dragging Rei off the ground and then shoving his up against a wall; Azuma yelled, "I thought I was clear!" Pushing Rei even higher up the wall, he pulled his fist back to administer a punch.

He stopped, realizing that Rei had not even tried to offer an excuse. Azuma looked up to the boy's face, which was set to receive any punishment that Azuma could come up with. 

Giving a frustrated sigh Azuma punched the metal next to Rei's head instead. Azuma allowed Rei to drop to the ground. Rei pushed himself into a sitting position and looked up at Azuma with surprise in his eyes. 

"Why? What?" Rei was completely dumbfounded. _Why didn't Azuma punch me?_

Azuma ignored Rei's questions, instead saying, "It'd be best if you could get out of the village before VICTIM came. And I think I might be able to arrange that…go home for now Rei." Azuma walked forward, and faded into the formless night.

****

Azuma met the man at the secret entrance, where the metal had rusted away.

Some days Azuma wished he could tell the others in the village about this entrance; sadly, he was sworn to secrecy, in fact, by the very man who had just come through it. Azuma politely directed the man into his office. Azuma had earlier pulled out the extra chair he kept for distinguished guests. Gesturing for the man to sit Azuma took the seat behind his desk. 

"Is there anyone here worth recruiting?" the man asked, he green eyes locking onto Azuma.

Azuma had to look away form the man's unearthly and penetrating gaze. "There are two I think you'd be interested in," Azuma reached in his desk and pulled out two folders, one marked 'Enna, Rei' and the other 'Gner, Hiead', "These two have potential."  

The man took the folders and leafed through the papers inside. Azuma kept on talking, "Don't let their attitudes fool you―"

 "Alright," the man cut him off, "They can come." He reached behind him and pulled out a piece of parchment, "Make sure they get this." He tossed the paper onto the desk. 

Azuma leaned forward to pick it up, when he looked up; the man was gone. 

****

The creatures, for they could only be described as such, soared at high velocity around the planet. Their mottled brown outer-layer shifted colors as it received new commands. Without slowing the swarm changed its course to the mountain/forest in the distance. The red eyes gleam maliciously as the command was sent again, _Destroy._   

**Well that's chapter one, hope you enjoyed it. It's short, only 5 word pages long.**


	2. The End of the Beginning, part one of tw...

**AN: I'm not a violent person, but Hiead is; hence the 'possible violence'. Read and Review!**

**_Chapter II: The End of the Beginning._**

Hiead sat with his back against one of the buildings on the outskirts of the village; his face looking toward to the Wall, but his eyes not seeing it. He liked to think of the dangers that were said to be out there, liked to think about how he would crush anything that would dare to keep him away from those dangers. He had, over the course of years, sat in this very place and ran combat situations through his head; he called it 'Image Training'. One of his favorite victims was Him. 

Hiead was in the middle of envisioning every detail of the blood splatters when he heard footsteps. Resisting his instinctive urge to look at who was coming; he instead waited for the person to show him or herself. 

The person positioned himself in the shadows, but just inside Hiead's peripheral vision. Hiead automatically started calculated his chances of winning, should the person attack him. 

_He's older than I am, but that just means he has less maneuverability; taller, so I would need to deliver a good blow to the solar plexus, in order to bring his head down to my level. Of course, from here he looks as if he is already going to collapse, so it might only take one punch to drop him. _

The man shifted uncomfortably. 

Hiead allowed himself a slight smile at the man's uneasiness. He had found that silence is best, because most people can't stand silence. In an attempt to fill it they blabber on about themselves, and give Hiead information that he can use against them later. The man shifted again, and then finally stepped out of the shadows. As he walked forward he spoke,

"Normally I would not let a mere child like you get the best of me; however, I'm a very busy person. I don't have the time to be here playing games with you, Hiead Gner." 

Hiead turned to face the man as the darkness withdrew from the stranger's face, exposing the grey-green eyes and the pale face that was set with lines of exhaustion; it also wasn't a face of any stranger, rather it was a face that Hiead could never forget. 

His hands curled into fists almost of their own violation; Hiead glared at them as if they had betrayed him. 

"Heh, not glad to see me are you? You remember what I—" His hand went to his mouth as a coughing fit seized his voice.

**Part one! My muse left me for a better author halfway through this chapter, and my new muse and I are still settling our differences. A review or two might ease the argument. Thanks!**


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